There’s still a small amount of time left to book  Christmas or New Year theatre breaks but the choice of shows left will keep getting tighter the longer you leave it. Theatre Breaks in the Holidays January is a peak time for West End theatres in general but specific dates around the school holidays always have a high demand and booking tickets only will very soon become impossible for most of the popular musicals and plays.  Not everybody realizes though, that theatre breaks packages will still be available for top shows with good seats and plush central London hotels, long after the scramble for individual seats has subsided. That’s because the holiday and theatre breaks companies block book seats in advance and have priority arrangements with the hotel groups, In this way they can still offer top  seats for London theatres and best affordable rooms in the most convenient hotels for a price that is nearly always better value than that you could put together yourself, even if the dates you wanted were still available. Top Musicals for Theatre Breaks So which are the top five musicals for theatre breaks in London this season? Top new musical for 2011 is GHOST with fabulous rock music by Dave Stewart Ghost

musical: Ghost

starring: Richard Fleeshman, CAISSIE LEVY, SHARON D CLARKE

Book Now: Ghost theatre breaks

opening night:24 June 2011 booking until 13 October 2012.

Top Family Musical, also new for 2011 is MATILDA Based on Roald Dahl’s dramatic novel.

musical: Matilda The Musical

starring: Paul Kaye

Book Now: Matilda The Musical theatre breaks

opening night:25/11/2011 booking until 12th February 2012

LAST CHANCE! Priscilla Theatre Breaks  

musical: Priscilla Queen of the Desert

starring: Ray Meagher

Book Now: Priscilla Queen of the Desert theatre breaks

opening night:March 10 2009 booking until 31/12/2011

Perennial Favourite Wicked Theatre Breaks  

musical: Wicked!

starring: Rachel Tucker

Book Now: Wicked! theatre breaks

opening night:2006 booking until Open Ended

More Wizards and Witches in the West End Wizard of Oz Theatre Breaks  

musical: The Wizard of Oz

starring: Danielle Hope

Book Now: The Wizard of Oz theatre breaks

opening night:March 1st 2011 booking until Sunday October 28th 2012

Choosing your dates for London breaks When it comes to choosing your dates for booking London breaks, I appreciate some can be more flexible than others. It all depends on what your visit is mainly for. Perhaps to mark a special occasion such as a birthday or anniversary, in which case seeing a show on the big day may be important. Others will be happy to organise around the nearest weekend if a midweek break is out of the question because of weekday commitments. Or seeing a special show may be the whole purpose, booking a london break to get those sought after tickets. If a midweek London break is at all a possibility then it does have a lot going for it. Not only are the best show tickets more likely to be available than on a Saturday night, and the chances of picking up a better value hotel deal increased, but also I think the London life is just a tad more authentic when the city is doing it’s business day thing, with places such as the City of London almost deserted at weekends. Not only that but if you plan to do a little shopping thne places like Oxford Street are much easier to negotiate when the Saturday crowds are absent.

Midweek London Breaks on offer Several times a year there are special offers for Midweek London breaks with top musicals and these include a Monday to Thursday show and for some a Friday is a possibility as well. This reflects the fact that London hotels are in demand not just for business clients during the week but largely for tourists and visitors at weekends who outnumber the corporate residents, thus creating some spare capacity on weekdays. Of course Saturday night show tickets always sell out first as well, so midweek is the way to go if you can get away with it at all. London Breaks by Rail

Travel to London from the UK is often best by intercity fast train network. Even if you are the sort of person who goes everywhere by car, for a London break, this is really not a good place to bring one because of the traffic, the parking problems, the unforgiveness of London drivers and taxis for those who are unfamiliar with where they are going and worries over breaking the congestion charge regulations. Rail travel on the other hand should bring you to central London in a relatively relaxed and stress free frame of mind to enjoy the theatre. There are just a couple of tips I’d point out to help you plan London breaks by rail. * Rush hour - don’t arrive in London before 9.30am or depart for your return journey between 4.00pm and 7.00pm. This shouldn’t be a problem if you are coming a few hundred miles but could be an issue for those in the South East of England who try to spend the whole day in London as well as travelling. * Quiet Carriages - If you should be unfortunate enough to be seated next to a loud mobile phone user or families with DVD players on some routes then seeking out the designated Quiet Carriage will solve it, and they can also be less crowded. * First Class upgrades can be well worth the small premium, ( lookout for “Weekend First” deals) and you might get some sort of meal and and a newspaper thrown in. For best value rail tickets, booking in advance is the key and if you book rail tickets as part of a London break with show, hotel stay and any attractions as well you can save up to 40% on the rail component.